1997 European Under-16 Football Championship

The 15th U-16 European Football Championship was held in Germany from April 28 to May 10, 1997 . The winner was Spain with a 5-4 victory on penalties against Austria . The German team finished third after a 3-1 win over Switzerland . Defending champion Portugal as well as final opponent France could not qualify.

mode

The 16 qualified teams were divided into four groups of four teams each. Within the groups, each team played each other once. The group winners and runners-up reached the quarter-finals. From there on, the knockout system continued.

Attendees

The following teams took part in the tournament:

Belgium  Germany (host)  Georgia  Iceland  Israel  Italy  Austria  Northern Ireland

Poland  Switzerland  Slovakia  Slovenia  Spain  Turkey  Ukraine  Hungary

Squad of the DFB selection

player	society	Calls	Gates
goal
Stefan Kliche	Hamburger SV	6th	-
Roman Weidenfeller	1. FC Kaiserslautern	-	-
Defense
Simon Knipper	SV Werder Bremen	5	-
Thorben Marx	Hertha 03 Zehlendorf	6th	-
Benjamin Schöckel	FC Bayern Munich	6th	0
Matthias Straub	VfB Stuttgart	6th	0
Michael Zepek	Karlsruher SC	6th	1
midfield
Sebastian Backer	FC Bayern Munich	6th	2
Francis Bugri	Borussia Dortmund	6th	-
Marco Christ	1. FC Nuremberg	6th	1
Simon Cziommer	FC Twente Enschede	3	-
Clemens Fritz	FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt	4th	1
Markus Schinner	Hannover 96	5	-
Storm
Silvio Adzic	1. FC Kaiserslautern	6th	2
Benjamin Auer	1. FC Kaiserslautern	6th	4th
Florian Wurster	VfB Stuttgart	6th	2

Venues

The games were played in the cities of Barsinghausen , Blankenburg , Braunschweig , Bremen , Bückeburg , Celle , Einbeck , Goslar , Hamburg , Hameln , Hanover , Hettstedt , Hildesheim , Kiel , Lehrte , Lübeck , Lübenheen , Minden , Neukloster , Neustadt-Glewe , Nienburg / Weser , Norderstedt , Nordhausen , Polz , Rendsburg , Schönberg , Schwerin , Thale , Vöhrum and Wernigerode .

Preliminary round

Group A

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Germany	3	3	0	0	006-000	+6	09
2.	Switzerland	3	2	0	1	005: 500	± 0	06th
3.	Northern Ireland	3	1	0	2	003: 400	−1	03
4th	Israel	3	0	0	3	003: 800	−5	00

April 28, 1997, Hanover
Germany	-	Israel	3-0
April 28, 1997, Einbeck
Switzerland	-	Northern Ireland	2: 1
April 30, 1997, Hameln
Germany	-	Switzerland	2-0
April 30, 1997, Vöhrum
Israel	-	Northern Ireland	1: 2
May 2, 1997, Bremen
Northern Ireland	-	Germany	0: 1
May 2, 1997, Barsinghausen
Israel	-	Switzerland	2: 3

Group B

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Spain	3	3	0	0	010: 200	+8	09
2.	Austria	3	1	0	2	004: 400	± 0	03
3.	Ukraine	3	1	0	2	005: 900	−4	03
4th	Poland	3	1	0	2	004: 800	−4	03

April 28, 1997, Hettstedt
Spain	-	Ukraine	6: 1
April 28, 1997, Nordhausen
Poland	-	Austria	0: 4
April 30, 1997, Blankenburg
Poland	-	Spain	1: 2
April 30, 1997, Goslar
Austria	-	Ukraine	0: 2
May 2, 1997, Thale
Ukraine	-	Poland	2: 3
May 2, 1997, Wernigerode
Austria	-	Spain	0: 2

Group C

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Belgium	3	3	0	0	007: 100	+6	09
2.	Hungary	3	2	0	1	008: 500	+3	06th
3.	Italy	3	1	0	2	006: 600	± 0	03
4th	Georgia	3	0	0	3	007:160	−9	00

April 28, 1997, Polz
Hungary	-	Georgia	6: 3
April 28, 1997, Schoenberg
Belgium	-	Italy	1-0
April 30, 1997, Schwerin
Hungary	-	Belgium	0: 1
April 30, 1997, Lübenheen
Georgia	-	Italy	3: 5
May 2, 1997, Neustadt-Glewe
Italy	-	Hungary	1: 2
May 2, 1997, Neukloster
Georgia	-	Belgium	1: 5

Group D

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Turkey	3	3	0	0	007-000	+7	09
2.	Slovakia	3	1	1	1	003: 300	± 0	04th
3.	Iceland	3	1	0	2	002: 500	−3	03
4th	Slovenia	3	0	1	2	002: 600	−4	01

April 28, 1997, Kiel
Turkey	-	Slovenia	2-0
April 28, 1997, Norderstedt
Slovakia	-	Iceland	1-0
April 30, 1997, St. Pauli
Turkey	-	Slovakia	1-0
April 30, 1997, Lübeck
Slovenia	-	Iceland	0: 2
May 2, 1997, Lurup
Iceland	-	Turkey	0: 4
May 2, 1997, Rendsburg
Slovenia	-	Slovakia	2: 2

Final round

	Quarter finals				Semifinals				final
	May 5, 1997, Hildesheim
	Germany	3
					May 7, 1997, Braunschweig
	Hungary	1
					Germany	1
	May 5, 1997, Bückeburg
					Spain	2
	Spain	3
									May 10, 1997, Celle
	Slovakia	1
									Spain	10 (5) 1
	May 5, 1997, Nienburg
									Austria	0 (4)
	Belgium	0 (4)
					May 7, 1997, Minden
	Switzerland	10 (5) 1
					Switzerland	0 (5)			Game for third place
	May 5, 1997, Lehrte
					Austria	10 (6) 1
	Turkey	0							Germany	3
	Austria	3							Switzerland	1
									May 9, 1997, Barsinghausen

¹ win on penalties

The U-16 national team of Spain was thus the fourth time European football champions of the U16 / U17 juniors. 

The winning eleven : Casillas - Aranceta, Gurruchaga, Sanchez - Blas (Lopez), Garcia, Guillen, Mateos (Garro), Camacho - Rodriguez-Fraile, Cuartero (Sanchez)